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TENTH AISTSTVERSARY 



ORGA]STZATION 



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IN THE 



State of Connecticut, 



MARCH 7, 1906. 






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The Society 

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PLIMPTON PRESS, HARTFORD. 



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TENTH ANNIVERSARY MEETING. 



A special meeting of this Society was held in the old 
Hempstead House, New London, on Wednesday afternoon, 
March 7th, 1906, on the Tenth Anniversary of the organization 
of the Society in the same house, March 7th, 1896, and among 
the members present were all but one of the ten original signers 
of the Articles of Association, the absent one being deceased. 

In the absence of the Governor, Hon. Charles E. Gross, 
the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, of New Haven, 
presided. Ten new members were elected, making the present 
membership of the Connecticut Society 176. 

Following the business meeting, a memorial address was 
read by Mrs. John L. Branch, of New London, upon Hon. Ben- 
jamin Stark, the first governor of the Society. Mr. Walter 

C. Faxon, of Hartford, read a memorial upon Charles Dudley 
Warner, a Governor of the Society at the time of his death, 
which memorial was also prepared by Mrs. Branch. Mr. 
Gilbert S. Raymond, of Norwich, read a sketch of Hon. Lyman 

D. Brewster, and supplemented same by reading a poem en- 
titled "Immortality," written by Mr. Brewster, who also held 



the position of Governor of the Society. Mr. Percy Coe 
Eggleston, of New London, read a memorial upon Rev. James 
G. Johnson, who held the office of elder of the Society for 
several years and at the time of his death. This was followed 
by a poem written by Burgess Johnson, of New York, a son 
of Elder Johnson, entitled "A Song of the Yankee." 

Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, Deputy Governor, addressed the 
meeting, reviewing its organization and history during the first 
ten years of its existence and proposing plans for its future 
usefulness, the address being of very great interest. 

Mr. William M. Stark spoke of the early period of the 
Society's life, giving account of many incidents in its history. 
Rev, Allen S. Bush, of Denver, Col., spoke for the members 
of the Society in that state. A collation was served in the 
dining room, followed by a period of social intercourse, and all 
voted the anniversary to have been a delightful occasion. 

This brochure contains the several addresses, except the 
remarks made by Mr. Stark and Rev. Mr. Bush. 

The Hempstead House in which the Society was organized 
and the anniversary meeting held is filled with objects of great 
interest commemorative of the early days of life in this country. 



M 



A MEMORIAL. 
By Mary L. B. Branch. 



I speak of the early days, and the beginning of things, of 
seedtime, not of harvest, the days when our Society was not 
called by its present title, but was the New England Society 
of Mayflower Descendants, so named by a little group of en- 
thusiasts who had carefully traced their lines back to Mayflower 
ancestry, and meant that that ancestry should never be for- 
gotten. 

We thought that all New England was our field, and we 
were full of ardor and high anticipation. We knew somewhat 
about the formation of a society, its incorporation, and the 
importance of the selection of able officers. First and highest 
in office we must have a governor. After that the way was 
plain. We could readily tell whom to have for secretary and 
treasurer (both offices combined in one man), for historian, 
and for the board of assistants. An elder, a captain, and a 
surgeon were not immediately necessary for our peace of mind, 
but a governor we must have ! He must be a man of prominence, 
of dignity, and with that ripeness of judgment which many long 
years of life alone can give. We looked about us in our Society 
and one name only stood forth clear to see, the name of Ben- 
jamin Stark, eighth in descent from William Brewster. 

Mr. Stark was long past middle age. He was at that time 
seventy-five years old. The ambitions of this world had ceased 
to trouble him, he would have welcomed the nomination of 
some other candidate, but he was moved by a sincere regard 



for this budding Society and its purposes and prospective work, 
to yield to the wishes of the members and to take that vacant 
office, first and highest in their gift. 

Living here in the same town with us, we could look to 
him for constant interest and ready counsel. Some of us 
can remember a very interesting paper which he prepared for 
us and read at one of our meetings. 

Those were the early days. From March 30th to December 
21st, 1896, Benjamin Stark was our governor. Here in this 
house was held our first annual meeting on Forefathers' Day. 
The program was rendered in the keeping room, filled by mem- 
bers of the Society. Lieutenant Totten read his fine paper, 
and I, assigned the lighter duty, read a poem. Directly oppo- 
site, over against the wall, sat our governor. Some lines had 
been written with the special thought of him as auditor, be- 
cause of his quick recognition of any classical allusion, and 
as he listened he looked attentive, approving. 

It was at this annual meeting that Mr. Stark declined a 
re-nomination, and our deputy-governor, Mr. Hyde, was 
elected in his place. 

His physical strength was now on the decline. Slowly, 
steadily, he was moving toward the inevitable end, of which 
perhaps he himself was more conscious than were we. 

On the tenth of October, 1898, he departed this life, at 
the age of seventy-eight. In now recalling what he was to- 
us in our growing Society, may our appreciation of him be as 
an unfading laurel offered to that gracious personality which 
memory has here evoked. 




CJ^^^c^. ^r^^/^^^Ur'i^..X,n^-- 



(HifntltB SubUg Wwcntt. 

A MEMORIAL. 
By Mary L. B. Branch. 



The Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of 
Connecticut were justly proud when Charles Dudley Warner, 
seventh in descent from Francis Cooke, entered their ranks. 
He was one of the ablest thinkers and one of the most popular 
writers in the whole country. His name and fame reached 
all around this little planet, and he was ours! This boon 
Connecticut gave to her own Society. 

On the evening of Forefathers' Day, 1899, when we held 
our annual meeting at the Crocker House, and nominations 
for governor were in order, some happy inspiration quickened 
us, and we followed the word of advice that Emerson once 
gave. We hitched our wagon to a star and enthusiastically 
elected Charles Dudley Warner. 

He was not present at that meeting, and had he refused 
the office when informed of his election, we should have felt 
blank indeed. But, instead, our star bent most friendly light 
upon us, and we moved serenely on with this new guide. He 
took a real interest in the Society; he made it a personal matter, 
and took pains to attend the triennial congress held the fol- 
lowing September at Plymouth, Massachusetts. In conver- 
sation there with some of our members, he expressed his lively 
ambition for the Society, for its extension, and its ever-widening 
influence for good. But he was not permitted himself to realize 
the fulfilment of his hopes. It was only a month later that he 
died, and our grief was sincere and lasting. 



I will close by reading the tribute entered upon the records 
of the Society, at the time of his death: 

"It is with deep sorrow that we record the death, in Hart- 
ford, on the twentieth of October, nineteen hundred, of Charles 
Dudley Warner, the honored and beloved governor of the 
Society of Mayjfiower Descendants in the State of Connecticut. 

"A man of letters, a traveler, a philanthropist, a student 
of human nature, and an explorer in sociological fields, he 
everywhere made his personal power felt, and showed that 
loftiness of aim, that purity of principle, that fearlessness of 
action, which we may well call the most precious fruitage of 
a Pilgrim ancestry. 

"His strength, his gentleness, his quick insight, the energy 
and simplicity of his character made him one whom we were 
proud to call our leader." 





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By Gilbert S. Raymond. 



Lyman Denison Brewster, the son of Daniel and Harriet 
Averill Brewster, and a direct descendant of the sixth genera- 
tion of Elder William Brewster of Plymouth, was bom in Salis- 
bury, Connecticut, July 31, 1832. He prepared for college at 
Williams' Academy, Stockbridge, Mass., and was graduated 
from Yale in 1855. He was the poet of his class. Subsequent 
to graduation he traveled extensively abroad, and upon his re- 
turn began the study of law in the office of Hon. Roger Averill 
(afterwards Lieutenant Governor), in Danbury, where he lived 
the remainder of his life. In 1858 he was admitted to the bar, 
and ten years later married Sarah Amelia Ives, who survives 
him. 

Judge Brewster early attained prominence at the bar. In 
1868 he was Judge of Probate, and in 1870 the first judge of the 
Court of Common Pleas of Fairfield County, serving four years. 
In 1870, 1878, and 1879, he represented Danbury in the lower 
house of the State legislature, serving two years on the judi- 
ciary committee, also as chairman of the committee on consti- 
tutional amendments, and as a member of the committee on a 
reformed civil procedure, whose work resulted in the drafting 
and adoption of the present Practice Act. In 1880 and 1881 
he was a member of the State senate and chairman of the judi- 
ciary committee. 

He confined himself closely to the practice of his pro- 
fession after 1880, and became very successful as a trial lawyer. 
His most important case was the suit involving the will of 



Samuel J. Tilden of New York. Appearing for the heirs-at- 
law, he attacked the validity of the residuary bequest creating 
the "Tilden Trust." The Court of Appeals of New York, by a 
bare majority, held the bequest invalid, the prevailing opinion 
indicating that the conclusion of the court was based largely on 
Judge Brewster's brief, in the preparation of which the best 
part of four years was spent. Joseph H. Choate was associated 
with him in this case, and James C. Carter was one of the oppos- 
ing counsel. 

Judge Brewster was a charter member of the American bar 
Association, and until his illness in 1903 had attended all of 
its meetings. Since 1890 he had been chairman of the commit- 
tee of the Association on Uniform State Laws, and from 1896 
to 1901 was president of the National Conference of Commis- 
sioners, on Uniformity of State Legislation, appointed by the 
Governors of the various States. He particularly gave up the 
last years of his life to this movement, and contributed more 
than any other one man to its success. In 1901 he wrote a 
series of exhaustive articles for the Yale Law Journal and 
Harvard Law Review, in defence of the Negotiable Instruments 
Act, which had been subjected to the criticism of Dean Ames 
of the Harvard Law School. He was an earnest advocate of 
reform in the business laws of the country, and gave forcible 
expression to his views in a paper on "A Commercial Code," 
which he read before the New York State Bar Association at 
Albany, in January, 1903. Immediately after reading this 
paper, which he had said would probably finish his work in be- 
half of uniformity, he was stricken with paralysis. The last 
year of his life, although one of partial invalidism, saw no 
impairment of his mental vigor, and on the day preceding his 
death he brought about the settlement of a case in which he 
had been counsel. 

A lovable Christian character shone all through his life, 
and during his last year of rest and freedom from activity his 
life became a benediction to all who came in touch with him. 

10 



He died in sleep at his home in Danbury, February 14, 
1904. 

Judge Brewster was elected governor of our Society in 
December, 1900, re-elected in 1901, and again in 1902. His 
short poems published at different times during his lifetime 
show a true sense of humor and a great depth of character. 
His poem on "Immortality" was said to be his favorite and was 
a representation of the true character of the man. 




11 



By Lyman D. Brewster. 



In a mountain spring, a crystal drop 

Came trembling up to the glassy top; 
It came from the dark, cool depths of earth 

And the sunlight kissed it at its birth. 

Far up in the azure realms of sky, 

The clouds of summer were sailing by. 
And the little drop looked up, and said, 

As it saw the glory overhead, 
"Oh, would that to me the boon were given 

To move in the shining ranks of heaven." 
And oft again in its downward course. 

As it hurried from its mountain source, 
A bubble, borne by the brimming brook 

To many a wild and shadowed nook. 
Or loitered slow with the wayward stream,— 

It thought of its childhood's sky-born dream. 
But on and away the waters flow. 

Through woodland and meadow far below. 
Over sandy plain and stony bank, 

And through swamps, like jungles, dense and rank; 
Imprisoned long within rocky walls. 

Now plunging down over dizzy falls. 
They turn the wheels of the busy mill; 

Now white with foam, now dark and still. 
Till at length a river, deep and wide. 

It flowed where cities stood by its side, 
And at last the river reached the sea, 

And the dream and dreamer ceased to be : 
The drop was lost in the heaving deep. 

Where all the rivers of earth must sleep. 



12 



But the sun that kissed the new-born drop, 

And whose floods of sunbeams never stop, 
Had not forgotten his Httle child, 

Born of a mist in the mountain wild. 
And he loosed his threads of golden light, 

And up from a wave of snowy white 
The drop was lifted so tenderly 

It never knew when it left the sea. 
But found itself drawn up to the sky, 

Afloat in the heavens, soft and high. 
As free as the winds of airy space, 

As fair as the morning's tender grace. 

One tranquil eve, 'mid the purple ones 

That shine in the light of setting suns, 
It saw far down on the distant earth 

The forest-spring where it had its birth, 
And all of the winding way it went. 

With many a murmur of discontent; 
And the early dream came back again. 

As the thoughts of youth come back to men: 
That thread of silver that ever turned 

Away from the skies for which it yearned, 
That wandering life of fall and foam 

That seemed to lead it away from home — 
It now could see was the very road 

That lead it up to its blest abode. 



13 



Elder of Conn. Mayflower Society, 1898-1905. 
By Percy Coe Eggleston. 



None other than "an ordained minister of our Lord Jesus 
Christ" has ever been ehgible to the office of elder in our So- 
ciety. The two earliest meetings for the election of officers 
found no member in the New England Society whose calling 
met these requirements. It was a circumstance much de- 
plored by the members, who, ten years ago, were meeting reg- 
ularly every two weeks under this hospitable roof. Some of 
you will recall with what pleasure and with what thought of 
his future usefulness to the Society it was at length granted us 
in the fullness of time to assemble in this venerable house, and 
on December 21, 1896, elect to membership one who was emi- 
nently qualified and worthy to become the Society's future 
moral and spiritual preceptor even as had been the devoted 
Brewster to our Pilgrim Fathers — the Reverend James Gibson 
Johnson. 

Doctor Johnson came of the purest and best of New Eng- 
land stock. He was seventh in descent from John Alden and 
eighth in descent from William Mullens of "The Mayflower." 
His grandfather, Jeremiah Johnson, had served through the 
Revolution and the War of 1812. His father, Lorenzo Dow 
Johnson, was referred to by Lincoln as "the Chaplain-General 
of the army," because of his effective work in Washington and 
at the front throughout the Civil War. His mother was a 
Rhode Island Burges, granddaughter of a Revolutionary 
minuteman, sister of a chief justice of the Rhode Island Su- 

14 



preme Court, and niece of Tristam Surges, called in Congress 
the "bald eagle of the North." Doctor Johnson was born in 
Providence, R. I., on June 25, 1839. He was one of a group of 
six brothers, all of whom, in one way or another, have been of 
service to the government. One has been for thirty-six years 
the executive head of the Lighthouse Board; another served 
as a surgeon during the Civil War and later as national delegate 
to numerous medical congresses; another represented the 
government as consul-general in Syria; another was in the 
Pay Department of the government during the war; and the 
youngest was a captain in the army at the time of his death. 
Mr. James Bowden Johnson, one of these brothers, was among 
the earliest members of our Society, his admission preceding 
that of his brother, our lately desceased elder, by quite a num- 
ber of months. On June 30, 1870, Doctor Johnson had mar- 
ried Mary A. Rankin, who came of distinguished ancestry and 
was the daughter of William Rankin, LL. D., of Newark, N.J. 

Doctor Johnson was elected to membership in the New 
England Society of Mayflower Descendants while he was still 
the pastor of the New England Congregational Church in Chi- 
cago. It seemed specially appropriate that, while holding 
that particular pastorate, he should become identified with 
our Society, in that act linking the traditions of early New 
England with the Christian cause that New England's pos- 
terity was urging upon peoples' attention in a State distant 
from the parent colony. 

In scholarly attainment and in wide and varied experience, 
none of our members were better equipped than Doctor John- 
son. He had been graduated from Union College in 1863, 
and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1866, in which 
year he was also ordained a minister of the Congregational 
Church. His first pastorate was over the Second Presbyterian 
Church of Newburyport, Mass. He went from there to the 
First Congregational Church of Rutland, Vermont, where his 
pastorate covered fifteen years from 1870 to 1885. Here in 

IS 



New London he will ever be remembered with sincere esteem 
and affectionate regard as the pastor of the Second Congre- 
gational Church from 1885 to 1891. From 1891 he was estab- 
lished for six years in Chicago, and later, in 1899, returned to 
Connecticut to become the pastor of the Congregational Church, 
in Farmington, a charge that offered him the prospect of a more 
restful and peaceful contemplation of life as the eventide closed 
in about him. His leading place in the pulpit had received 
recognition in 1880 by the degree of D. D., conferred upon him 
by Middlebury College, Vermont. His sermons and articles 
were widely published, and he acted as trustee of various edu- 
cational institutions. In the fall of 1895, his ability was further 
honored by the American Board, of which he was a corporate 
member, sending him abroad with two other deputies to confer 
with the Japanese churches and missionaries, and their choice 
of him was fully justified by his complete mastery of the sit- 
uation and his wise counsels both in Japan and on his return to 
America. 

Immediately following Doctor Johnson's election to mem- 
bership, our Society joined with the New York and Massachu- 
setts societies in forming the General Society of Mayflower 
Descendants. The necessity of making extensive changes in 
our organization and the uncertainty of Doctor Johnson's own 
plans delayed his election to the office of elder until the annual 
meeting of December 1, 1898, when our earlier hopes were 
realized and we had the pleasure of electing him the first elder 
of our Society. From that date, as you all are aware, he was 
annually our unanimous choice, and he held the office contin- 
uously until his death on March 23, 1905. 

The sad circumstances of that event are no doubt familiar 
to all present. You remember how Doctor Johnson, Mrs. John- 
son and their daughter, just a year ago yesterday, started upon 
a visit to a son in Mexico, in the hope that the trip would prove 
beneficial to the Doctor's health; how Mrs. Johnson's sudden 
illness and death in Monterey occasioned the immediate home- 

16 



ward journey; how that sad homeward trip itself was termi- 
nated in Washington, D. C, by the prostration and death of 
Doctor Johnson from an illness similar to that which had caused 
the death of Mrs. Johnson; how the twilight came thus suddenly 
for both, and "a kind and merciful God dropped the curtain of 
their lives together." 

From the many editorial comments at the time, the fol- 
lowing is selected as a most just and deserving tribute to the 
beautiful influence of these two lives: "It is the knowledge of 
those who knew Doctor and Mrs. Johnson that no sermon 
could ever compare in power with the lesson of their lives. 
Living for others was their simple creed, and their every step 
forward together was taken in a spirit of self-forgetfulness, or 
marked by personal sacrifice for those they loved. At the 
news of their deaths, memorial services were held in Rutland, 
New London, and Chicago, though they had been long absent 
from those former homes. And of those who mourned their 
loss, the number was so great, so widely scattered, and so 
widely varied in station and pursuit as to be an astonishment 
even to ones who had known them best and longest. Their 
earthly reward was in a world-wide circle of loving friends — 
men, women and children whom they had loved and helped; 
in the happiness of their children — a happiness their sacrifices 
had provided; and in the privilege of being in death as they 
had been in life — inseparable." 

A devout spirit, an unusual poise of wisdom and judgment 
for counsel, so combined themselves with genial and humorous 
social qualities as to make Doctor Johnson an ideal man for 
the place he filled in our Society. While the duties obtaining 
to the office of elder are not of a nature to require continuous 
or even frequent attention, still our late Elder's interest and 
enthusiasm were always alive and active in Mayflower affairs. 
More than that, he was ever a close student of early New Eng- 
land history and a recognized authority in all matters pertaining 
to the ecclesiastical and political polity of the original Pilgrim 

17 



and Puritan settlements. His most notable service during 
his continued term of office was along these lines and took the 
form of an address entitled "The Nation's Debt to the Pilgrims," 
delivered at the Church of the Pilgrimage, Plymouth, Mass., 
on the occasion of the Second Triennial Congress of the General 
Society. Doctor Johnson was present as one of the ten dele- 
gates representing the Connecticut Society and was invited 
to take part in the exercises planned for Sxmday evening, 
September 16, 1900. His address proved the chief and most 
delightful feature of the evening; indeed, it will be remembered 
by many who heard it long after all the other incidents of the 
Congress have vanished from memory. So many expressed 
the wish for its preservation, that the committee having in 
charge the publication of the first Year Book of the General 
Society deferred to their desires and the address has a con- 
spicuous place in the pages of that record. No one can read 
it without an appreciation of its scholarly and literary merit, 
and the testimony of our other delegates was that in its delivery 
our Elder proved himself a welcome and interesting speaker 
and through him the Connecticut Society was brought into 
prominence and made the subject of favorable comment and 
discussion by the delegates from the other States. 

Many of the traits of character that ennobled his Pilgrim 
ancestors were distinguishable in Doctor Johnson. Although 
hampered in his work by a defect of vision that was often the 
cause of intense physical pain, he bore the affliction in silence 
with no abating of his rare geniality and good humor. He was 
tolerant in religious matters: his own physical disabilities 
seemed to have broadened and deepened his sympathies. 
In local affairs he took an active interest and was always a 
leader in every movement for improvement. He was strong 
in true manliness and a good companion among men. A con- 
servative in thought by disposition and training, he had a 
mind open to the best teachings of his time. His sermons were 
marked by unusual literary ability and their delivery impressed 

18 



the hearer with the great moral earnestness of the man. A 
broad-minded, large-hearted love of humanity characterized 
him in all the relations of his life — as a minister of the gospel 
and as a citizen. 

In that excellent address at Pl)miouth, he used these words 
in alluding to the high ideals that our Society should tend to 
develop and cultivate in its members : "We meet here, not so 
much to honor the Pilgrims as to honor ourselves by renewed 
recognition of the fact that we are their descendants. To 
repeat their virtues and to emulate their example is our high 
standard of character and citizenship." By this pattern and 
according to this rule, Doctor Johnson's own life was consist- 
ently fashioned and lived. 



^ 



19 



A #0n9 nf tl|^ 

•iety of Mayjlonver 
Connecticut 

By Burges Johnson. 



Written for the Society of Mayflonver Descendants in the State of 
Connecticut. 



We lay in the Bay of Yucatan 

While the lighters took our freights: 

We landed some fifty tons or more 

And the consignee came out from shore 

To worry each Indian stevedore 

Who handled his precious crates. 

He stood on our deck in his gay attire 

And yelled as a Greaser does, 

Strange Spanish oaths of a lurid hue, — 

But he said "b'gosh" when he'd gotten through, 

And I knew him for what he was. 

A Yank from Maine or from Lake Champlain, 

Or maybe from Salem, Mass. 

His face was lean and his wit was keen. 

And his eye let nothing pass. 

In an unmade land or a desert sand 

'Tis his especial pride 

To do odd jobs for Providence 

And help himself on the side. 

If you chance to sail uncharted seas. 
An unknown shore to gain. 
It's ten to one, when you reach the land, 
A naked native is on the sand 



20 



With a Waltham timepiece in his hand 

Or a sardine tin from Maine. 

And under a spreading cocoa tree 

There stands a trader's tent, 

Where a lonely stranger is selling clocks 

And Springfield guns and Stamford locks, 

Jackknives and liniament. 

He's from 'gansett Bay or Portsmouth way. 

Or maybe New London, Conn. 

No thief that's made, in any shade, 

Can steal what his eye is on. 

He will do to 3/ou what you meant to do, 

And probably do you first, 

But if you are both in a hole, you'll find 

He's giving himself the worst. 

The quaint Korean, with slanting eyes, 

In his far-off heathen hut, 

Bows down to an idol made of stone. 

Or curious wood, or carven bone, — 

Nor wots that his god on its jewelled throne 

Was made in Connecticut. 

The Esquimau chases the sHmy seal 

With a Yankee built harpoon. 

While the child of the Zulu, unconvert, 

In a Dorcas Society undershirt. 

Disports by some far lagoon. 

Oh, the Yankee mind keeps close behind 

The Pole hunter's wildest hope, 

And in Timbuctoo he has marred the view 

With ads of his shaving soap. 

On the wildest land his clever hand 

Has writ with a patent pen — 

He builds the schools and he fashions tools 

For the use of a world of men. 



21 



The Yankee inherits a deal of craft 

From his stern-faced Pilgrim sires, 

Who learned restraint, though they suffered much. 

And dwelt in peace with the crabbed Dutch, 

And taught the wilderness, at their touch, 

To yield what a man requires. 

And the mission spirit will drive some Yanks 

Wherever a man can roam, 

While others with delicate skill design 

Wooden nutmegs and hams of pine 

To sell to the folks at home. 

Where the cacti grow they're sympatico, — 

Blood-brothers in Afghanistan; 

They treat a Jap like a decent chap and skin their own 

countryman. 
Where the world is raw each lantern-jaw is chewing it 

into shape: — 
Then give God thanks that his bony Yanks are scattered 

from cape to cape! 



23 




i 



By Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, Deputy Governor. 



It is a pleasant duty as well as a great privilege to he here 
today as the guests of the founders of the Society of Mayflower 
Descendants in the State of Connecticut, to celebrate the 
tenth anniverary of its organization in our Commonwealth. 

The one regret that is felt today — and each of us shares 
this regret — is that we are deprived of the presence of our 
executive head — Governor Gross. His clear and wise inter- 
pretation of our duties and privileges as members of the or- 
ganization, and his unfailing courtesy and sympathy, as leader 
and friend, have brought our lines into exceedingly pleasant 
places; it is always smooth sailing and no breakers ahead when 
Governor Gross stands at the helm, and I am overwhelmed 
with something even deeper than regret that, on this special 
occasion, you should be obliged to accept so poor a substitute 
as myself for our ideal presiding officer. 

I sometimes wonder that this Society did not come into 
existence a hundred or more years ago, but evidently the hour 
had not struck; the time was not ripe for such a movement; 
our Revolutionary ancestors were confronted by troubles of 
their own, and their lively activities did not justify them in 
sitting down to peaceful contemplation of the virtues and heroic 
deeds of generations immediately preceding their own. 

During the centuries that serve as a background for the 
Nation as we know it today, there was certainly no time or 
strength or opportunity for more than a hand to hand struggle 
for mere existence, though the unconscious character build- 

23 



ing, which was one of the necessary factors in bringing the 
Nation to its birth, went steadily on. 

Each epochal period was fully occupied with its own affairs; 
simply that, and nothing more, and each in turn left to the 
future the task, not only of evolving the history of its own 
special epoch, but of turning on the search light, perhaps I 
might better say the re-search light of up-to-date investiga- 
tion of the motives, the measures and the methods of the mak- 
ers of a mighty Nation. And so the decades came and went, and 
very little thought was given or could be given to our own be- 
ginnings, or to those of the country itself until within the last 
few years, say from fifteen to twenty-five years. The organ- 
ization of the various patriotic societies throughout the coun- 
try started a search for ancestors such as had never before been 
known here, or in any other country. It is not easy, except on 
the theory of contrasts, to account for the sudden awakening of 
such a utilitarian century as this to what may be called the 
sentimental sides of history. But the fact is undeniable, 
that in this very materialistic age, we have been seized with a 
sort of frenzy for excavating from the dust and ashes of a dead 
and almost forgotten past certain detached and broken sec- 
tions of United States history, and we are trying to restore them 
to their rightful places that the continuity and significance of 
the story which means so much to us, and to the whole world, 
may stand in its splendid entirety for all time to come. Our" 
forebears made United States history what it is, and our chief ef- 
fort has been to find t/iem, to rehabilitate them, clothe them 
again with flesh and blood, make them real, living personages 
once more, and greet them as our very own. Personally, I have 
succeeded fairly well in discounting something of the vague 
ghostliness of my Mayflower ancestors, and today, Bradford, 
Brewster, and Hopkins are as real to me as my next-door 
neighbors, and even more so than some of them. But I realize 
the fact that certain of our Colonial and Revolutionary ances- 
tors had a very close call; oblivion was about to claim them, 

34 



so late were they in appearing upon our patriotic horizon. 
I am inclined to think that some of our forefathers would 
never have revealed themselves to us, but for the foresight 
and boundless interest of the New London women and men 
who founded our present organization, and it seems to me that 
on this occasion we ought to give ourselves the happy privi- 
lege of extending to these founders our hearty thanks, and 
congratulations that they were inspired to do this gracious 
deed in the name of the Pilgrim Fathers. These New London 
comrades did not exactly pass through perils by sea and perils 
by land in order to accomplish their purpose, but they doubtless 
suffered much anxiety, and did a great deal of hard work in 
arranging and adjusting the numberless details which are 
always necessary in the organization of a new Society. This 
is the best possible time to give honor where honor is due, and, 
while I cannot call by name each of the founders of the Con- 
necticut Societ}^ of Mayflower Descendants, I am going to ask 
those of them who are present with us today, to rise, let us 
look into their faces, and give them a rousing salute to show 
them our appreciation of the good work accomplished by them 
in this room ten years ago today. 

It is no small thing to have been the medium through 
which the Immortals who came to these shores in the Mayflower 
have been shorn of their vagueness, and made to stand out 
against the gloomy background of our early New England 
history like so many glowing stars in the blue firmament above 
us. This is what the New London contingent of our Society 
undertook to do, and did do ten years ago, and it is something 
which the rest of us will always remember with a thrill of 
gratitude. 

We have listened to a most interesting history of the 
Connecticut Society of Mayflower Descendants; we have 
placed rosemary for remembrance against the names of dear 
and trusted associates who have passed from life, into life; 

25 



with the setting of today's sun we shall have finished our work 
and our play in connection with this anniversary occasion, 
and the door of history will close upon the record of our first 
decade as an organization. 

And then, what of the future? As a Society we have 
never undertaken any memorial work. We have not been so 
situated, financially, as to feel justified in undertaking any 
work of this character. 

The spirit of good comradeship has been the dominant 
force with us in the past. But with a growing membership 
and a more plethoric treasury, it is probable that we are now 
in position to undertake some commemorative work, and I 
am inclined to think that practically our entire membership 
would approve of some such definite enterprise. Unlike the 
Societies of Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, 
the Mayflowers are not troubled by an embarrassment of riches 
in the matter of historic sites calling for recognition and suitable 
marking. But there is one such site right here in Connecticut 
which rightfully belongs to us to mark. I refer to the ancient 
cemetery at Brewster's Neck, which is the burial place of the 
first Jonathan Brewster and others of his name. This spot has 
been cared for by a Brewster descendant, who is, I believe, 
a member of this Society, and it was a spot much in the thoughts 
of our lamented Governor, Judge Brewster of Danbury, who 
contributed during his lifetime to the expense of caring for" 
this sacred place. The marking of such a spot would seem 
to be clearly the duty of our Society. I also desire to call 
your attention to the proposed monument at Provincetown, 
in memory of the Pilgrim Fathers. An association has been 
formed for the purpose of erecting an obelisk to commemorate 
the signing of the Compact and the first landing of the Pil- 
grims upon Cape Cod. A bill appropriating $40,000 has passed 
the United States Senate, and is now pending in the House; 
the State of Massachusetts has given $25,000; the Town of 
Provincetown, $5,000, and personal subscriptions already 

26 



received amount to $19,325. A total, therefore, of $89,325 is 
already practically assured. Will not the Connecticut Society 
of Descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers wish to be identified 
with this National movement? 

I have not had opportunity to confer with Governor 
Gross about this matter, but knowing as I do that he stands 
for the highest and best interests of the organization, I feel 
sure that he would approve these objects, and I do not, there- 
fore, hesitate to commend them to your future consideration 
as in every way worthy of your interest and financial support. 
This is certainly not a missionary society, nor yet a political 
organization. It is founded on sentiment, and the friend- 
ships of its members are cemented by ties of kindred blood. 
Every similar organization of its kind has a definite place in 
our social economy, and upon each one of us, as individuals, 
falls some small share of responsibility for perfecting the 
promises and purposes of lofty living which were of old born 
of a craving for civil and religious liberty, and were nourished 
by the blood of the Pilgrim fathers. 
"God had sifted three kingdoms to find the wheat for this 

planting : 
Then had sifted the wheat as the living seed of a Nation. 
So say the chronicles of old, and such is the faith of the people." 

This is the heritage which has come down to us through 
the centuries. While still standing on the threshold of a second 
decade of life as an organization, can. we better justify our 
birthright to this priceless heritage of blood which flows in our 
veins today, than by emulating the virtues of the Pilgrims, 
both fathers and mothers, by setting for once, a high standard 
of social and political ethics, and by pledging ourselves to do 
what we can, and all we can, to lift this organization upon 
such a lofty plane of thought and action, that it must neces- 
sarily become a factor in the upbuilding of pure homes and a 
country with a conscience. 



27 



iM^mb^ra mlfo mnt T^ttBtnt 



Mrs. Sarah L. C. Allender 

Miss Helen Morgan Avery 

Mrs. Mary L. B. Branch 

Mrs. Catharine A. D. Bramble 

Mrs. Frederick A. Bugbee 

Miss Lucy Palmer Butler 

Mrs. Alice S. Turner Barlow 

Mrs, Waterman R. Burnham 

Mrs. Francis M. Graves 

Miss Ellen Geer 

Miss Lucy Geer 

Mrs. Stephen A. Gardner 

Mrs. Geo. Alexander Haskell 

Mrs. William H. Hoyt 

Mrs. Charles B. Jennings 

Mrs. Sara T. Kinney 

Mrs. Phebe E. Brewster Lewis 



Mrs. Christopher Morgan 
Miss Harriet A. E. Prince 

Miss Frances Potter 
Mrs. A. MacC. Robinson 
Miss Sarah Elizabeth Robinson 
Miss EHzabeth C. G. Stark 
Miss Genevieve Stark 
Mrs. Annie Holt Smith 
Miss Lucretia Wright Smith 
Mrs. S. S. Thompson 
Mrs. George D. Whittlesey 
Rev. Allen S. Bush 
Percy Coe Eggleston 
Walter Collyer Faxon 
Laurence W. Miner 
George F. Newcomb 
Gilbert S. Raymond 



William Molthrop Stark 



(SuffltB. 



Mrs. W H. Barber 
Mrs. Clarence B. Bolmer 



Miss Annie Bragaw Keeney 
Miss G. T. Smith Osborn 



28 



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LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



013 996 354 4 



